Basketball Family Friday Recap

Finally after a long, long time we as a family were able to enjoy a decent game of basketball. On a personal level, i was essentially having an otherwise bad day (thank you Friday the 13th) but at least there was a good hour of basketball sandwhiched between such a terrible day.

I had played earlier that week in Franklin Park, alongside Mo, and Nauman. While the experience was a bit fun, i was completely embarrassed with the way i played. I couldnt score, couldnt finish lay ups, couldnt defend without fouling, couldnt bring the ball up or even make simple passes. I really wanted to work myself back into shape, and so for that reason i was looking forward to Friday.

I think probably what I really enjoyed wasnt so much the games, though they were fun, but the shoot around before the games. I often let everyone else shoot around and usually dont do a lot of warming up before games, and I always seem to regret that.

It was also interesting to see how everyone else did, since its been a while for pretty much everyone. We played one series and one extra game of 3on3. The teams were as such:

3v3 teams-
-Me, Juju, and Atiq b vs. Naveel, Sharim b, and shazil

4v4 teams-
-Me, Juju, Naveel, KC vs Sharim b, atiq b, shazil, and *Andy

*Andy is a 6'4 30-some year old baller that comes to the Roselle gym regularly. Hes probably near 200lbs, and while looked past his prime, was a strong dude with a good shot.


The games were pretty even, despite the presence of Andy, who probably couldnt have dominated the post all game but didnt. In the end it came down to making shots, and Team Atiq made theirs while my team didnt.

Heres a quick scouting analysis-

Atiq b- In the 3v3 game he was a bit more tentative on about what areas of the floor he used. One of the things i like about atiq's game is his constant movement. He never just settles in standing in a spot. Whether it be going for rebounds, help defense, or just trying to space the floor, hes constantly moving. I think because of the 3v3 game allowing more space, atiq limited his movements to running the baseline and staying within about 15 feet of the rim. In the 4on4 he expanded this range to running towards the 3pt line. In the 4on4 game I'd imagine for naveel it was a bit like guarding kyle korver. Atiq's "Bullet-Shot" (aptly named by KC) was certainly hitting its target in the 4on4 games. It seemed like everytime he was open he was knocking down the shot. In the end I believe this is exactly what accelerated our losses. With Andy attacking the Inside at times, naveel would try to provide help defense, and this allowed Atiq to be wide open beyond the arc. With no one making the rotation to cover the Shooter, atiq b basically tortured us with 3s all game.

Shazil- Whether he purposely models his game in such a way, or if its just a subconcious thing, Shazil played a lot like joakim noah. His best area by far might have been on the offensive boards. Shazil does a great job of somehow getting around boxouts and nabbing boards. Shazil also made sure to scream every time he brought a board down or threw a shot up. He was certainly one of those "hate to play against them love to have them on our team" kind of guys.

Sharim b- I had the task of guarding Rip, i mean, sharim b. He was constantly running the baseline, making it a point to only move when i turned my head to see what was happening ball side. I think his biggest strength was going into a two man game with Andy. He would pass the ball into the post, and take off running, and i almost always turned my back because i needed to make sure Andy didnt bully up a shot in the paint. It was a tiring ordeal guarding Sharim b (who also stated that it was a tiring ordeal just to keep running around) and it made matters worse when, much like atiq (though not as much) he knocked down practically every open 3pt shot he got.

Naveel- He probably was a bit dissapointed with his game offensively. Knowing Naveel, he hates it when he has trouble getting into a shooting rhythm, and pretty much the entire game it seemed like he was having trouble doing just that. With Andy and shazil constantly in the paint, and atiq closely guarding him, naveel had difficulty getting good looks in the game.Playing next to me and Juju also affected the amount of shots he got, since we both took a lot of shots ourselves, or more in my case, dicated where the ball went, which wasnt always to naveel. On defense he expressed his anger at the complete lack of rotations. Naveel, i think, is the best help defender in our family (REGGIE MILLER MOMENT!!!) but it was a strength we lost because he couldnt just help out on Andy with atiq knocking down every 3pt shot he took.

KC- I thought kc was hilarious at times. I was surprised he showed up, since it seemed like he was nearing the end of his days of playing basketball, not so much physically, but because of priorities at home. At the start of games he was a bit on fire, knocking down 10 foot baseline shots with ease. He even had a nice layup after being bumped that he was especially proud of. The funny thing about the shots were how effortlessly he shot them, and with quick releases, almost like he was rushing them...but they dropped. Later on he would take those same shots, more wide open and miss them. One of the funnier moments came when Atiq b nabbed a rebound that should have been KC's, and Juju immediately called him out on it. It was one of those funny anime dynamics. KC had a tough job trying to play the perimeter, and having hte longest time out of physical games, i could only imagine how his body felt afterwards.

Juju- I can go on about how juju played, but at this point its almost always the same story. He had brilliant moments on offense, he was lackadaisical during other moments. One of the biggest stories might have been a critique of his which he, like always, didnt appreciate. I think its safe to say my brother is probably the best shooter, not in terms of efficiency, but in terms of ability. Throughout the game i felt i found him with passes when he was wide open. Instead of taking those shots however he constantly would put the ball on the floor and try to pull up a foot inside the arc for a jumper, which was often more contested than the 3pt shot would have been. My criticism was that my brother should have just kept taking those 3s (he constantly throughout the games mentioned how he would stop shooting because he kept missing). The reason i wanted my brohter to keep shooting was because even if he missed, after every shot me and naveel were diving towards the rim, and i especially was having a pretty good time putting back shots.

My brother argued that he took the most shots and almost never turned down a shot, while I felt he turned the initial shot (after the catch down) and would constantly take a dribble inside the arc and then shoot. Heres a basketball lesson: The shot taken just inside the arch, from 18 feet and out, is considered THE MOST INEFFICIENT SHOT in basketball. Why? Because you are essentially shooting a shot with similar difficulty as a 3pt shot, yet without the extra point. My brother kept going to that shot after turning down wide open 3s. With me not being a good 3pt shooter, naveel unable to get going, and no real easy shots inside the paint coming, i felt the best offense was for my brother to take those open 3s when available and let the rest of us feast off the offensive rebounds.




The games were fun, and though the time ended up being really short, Id love to do it again.